In what ways did the apartheid laws help whites maintain control over non-whites?
1 Answer
They re-enforced racial discrimination in South Africa.
Explanation:
Racial discrimination against the black and coloured communities by the white community had been the norm for decades before apartheid laws came into being.
The white community was traditionally dominated by those of British descent. However after World War 2 the Boer community, who themselves had suffered discrimination by the British gained political power.
They pursued apartheid, which, theoretically, was a policy of separate but equal development of different racial communities. In reality the laws legitimised within the norms and values of White South African culture, economic, political and social exploitation of the black and coloured communities.
The laws covered every aspect of a person's life including who they could marry where they could live and what employment was open to them. Every basic political and economic right was denied, for example the right to vote or form trade unions.
There was total media censorship and any opposition was ruthlessly suppressed for example the Sharpeville shootings.
As a consequence it created a huge cheap labour market, not only for White South Africans but global capitalism. Therefore there was only lip service paid to apartheid by the Western community, whilst in reality they fully supported it through massive investment as the profit margin was so high.
